Blakeney
by relientklover
Summary: A story about Will and his personal feelings. New friends, along with the old ones too. A girl named Marie. Never mind the maneuvers. Just go straight at 'em. [2nd Chapter up]
1. Almost There

The sea was misty blue and grey. The waves splashed against the ship as the men stood on deck in their coats. It was winter, almost to be over. The men were glad, it had been a long one. The days began to get gradually warmer.

Will looked up at the starless and cloudless sky. He pulled his jacket closer to him. He walked to the edge of the ship and looked down at the sea. Will had looked at the same sea for what seemed like forever. But he was on his way home. The was to go back to England to get new crew members. There had been so many lost in battle.

Will looked down at his right side, where his arm had been amputated after a battle. He closed his eyes, remembering that day...

_He didn't know where he was...everything was hazy...he was being lifted onto a table when he opened his eyes. He felt people messing with his arm. There was pressure on it...he looked up and saw familiar faces. He knew what was happening...then-shear pain._

It was quiet. The only things heard were the small splashes of the sea and the creaks and groans of the ship. Will sat down and leaned up against the side of the ship. He closed his eyes, thinking about home. He would only get a week to stay. Then he would be off, back on the _Surprise._

He knew he would miss home again but nothing else brought him more happiness than being at sea. He slowly drifted off into a calm sleep. The cool breeze brushed his sandy blonde hair across his forehead, covering his misty blue eyes, which were similar to the sea.

"Mr. Blakeney, if you please."

Will opened his eyes and saw a stern face looking down at him. It was Lieutenant Tom Pullings.

"Sorry, Sir."

He stood up and straightened his jacket. He looked around and saw the captain. Captain Jack Aubrey. Will admired and respected him very much. The Captain was accompanied by Stephen Maturn, the ship's surgeon, as well as the captain's close friend. Will also felt the same way about him as he did for the captain.

The Doctor walked over to Will.

"Alright there, Mr. Blakeney?"

"Yes thank you, sir."

"I have a book," said Maturin, "that I thought you might be interested in." He took out a small pocket book and handed it to Will, with a warm smiles on his face. "I thought it could pass the time for you until we reach home."

Will took the book and opened it. It was over the different insects and creatures you might find in Great Britain. Will smiled.

"Thank you sir." and he meant it. He was getting impatient lately and was ready to step foot on land. Maturin nodded and left. Will put the book in his coat pocket, thinking to look it over later. He walked over to the captain, seeing that he wasn't busy.

"Excuse me sir."

Captain Aubrey turned around and smiles, "Ah, Mr. Blakeney. How are you this afternoon?"

Will hadn't realized it was already after noon.

"Fine, thank you. Sir, I was wondering, when do you think we'll be arriving in England?"

Captain Aubrey looked Will over, and could see he was eager to return. He smiled, "Not too long, Mr. Blakeney. I estimate about two more days, if the weather keeps well." He looked up at the sky.

"Two days? Only two days?"

"Yes, I think so."

Will knew they were close, but he never thought they'd be there in two days. He was smiling brightly.

"Thank you, sir!" he saluted.

"You're very welcome Mr. Blakeney."

Will walked off. He was thinking of getting back home. His mother would be surprised to see him come back without his right arm. He sighed, still happy that he would be home soon.

It was approaching dinner and it was a nice temperature outside. WIll slid off his coat thinking it felt nice enough. George Phillips, Will's friend, was moving crates from the deck to the kitchen. Will walked over to him. George looked up and wiped his brow.

"You know," he said standing up, "You can't notice the cold as much when you've been moving these crates."

"It's getting pretty warm actually."

George shrugged. He looked behind his shoulder. There were about ten more crates to carry down. George groaned.

"I wish," he said the latter rather loudly, "that someone would _help me_!"

Will felt bad.. he would help, but the crates were heavy, and he couldn't do it with one arm. George looked at him.

"Oh, I wasn't.."

"That's alright."

The captain had heard George and walked over.

"Brought some help for you Mr. Phillips."

Doudle and Nagel began lifting the crates and carrying them down the ladder.

"Oh, thank you sir."

"Of course-not that you'd need it, you're a strong enough young man." said Aubrey.

Will looked at George. He was strong. He had strong hands and could easily lift the crates. He would have looked rugged and tough by it, if it hadn't been for his warm brown eyes, flaming red hair, and freckles.

George didn't know how to respond. He was stuttering and was about to say something when the captain said, "-But I understand how much you've worked and agree you could use some help."

George smiled.

"Now," said the captain, "Would you two like to join me in my quarters for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, thank you sir." said Will.

They saluted, and the captain left. Will turned to George.

"Well, go on then, " said Will, "Carry the crates."

Geroge turned and muttered, "Lucky..."

Will frowned. He thought differently. He would rather do the same work as everyone else than to be treated differently. Whether it got him out of some hard work or not. George was the lucky one.

Will sat down and waited for Geroge to finish. He heard some of the men arguing on the direction which they should take.

"Bonden, you're going too far east, look here, the compass says so."

"No, look, it says we're going northeast exactly. Perfect. Right on track we are, Calamy."

Will walked up to the coxswain, Barret Bonden. He stood there looking at the compass and steering the ship. He was grungy and messy looking. A hat covered some of his messy blonde hair. Despite his grungy clothes, he was a good looking man.

Peter Calamy, a handsome young man with brown hair and striking blue eyes, and one of Will's closest friends, shook his head at Barret and passed Will, who stepped up behind the coxswain.

"Barret?"

He spun around, "Aye, Will."

"Can I have a look at that compass?"

He nodded and tossed the compass over his shoulder. Will reached his hand in the air and almost dropped it but then caught it in time.

He took a look at the compass. He stared at it for a moment.

"Barret," he finally said, "This says we're going east."

Barret turned around, "No Blakeney," he took the compass, "See, look here, hold like _this_ and it shows..." he stopped. He gave the compass back to Will, turned around, and started spinning the wheel a bit farther north.

Will laughes Barret said without facing Will, "You'd think, after so long, I'd know how to read a compass."

Will patted his back, "It's alright Barret." He set the compass down and walked back to find George. He looked around deck and couldn't see any sign of him Will stepped up on a crate and looked over the heads of the men. There was an advantage in having a friend with bright red hair. You could always find them easily. He skimmed the heads of the men yet still couldn't find George. He thought he might have gone to their quarters to get ready for supper, so he headed that way. He found George standing next to his hammock putting on hisover coat. Will sat down and talked with him for a while.

"Alright then, dinner time. Lets go."

They walked back outside. There was hardly anyone on deck. There was a couple men on deck, along with Bonden still steering the ship. Will turned to George, "We're late."

"How can we be? I could have sworn we had plenty of time!" George ran down to the captain's quarters and knocked on the door. Will followed and stood beside him. The door opened and they stepped inside. The captains stood from the table.

"Ah, Phillips, Blakeney, I thought you had forgotten."

"Sorry, sir." said Will, "We...lost track of time."

"Very well. Come sit down then!"

Will took the empty seat two seats down from Captain Aubrey. George sat across from him. Will shook hands with Maturin, who was sitting next to the captain and Lt. Pullings.

During the meal they talked about what they were all planning to do when they reached England. Captain Aubrey said he would be spending most of his time with his wife, Sophie.

"I'll also be looking forward to seeing you all at the banquet."

Will looked up from his dinner at the captain, then to George, who looked just as confused as he was.

"Banquet, sir?" asked Will.

"Yes, Mr. Blakeney has no one told you? There is to be a banquet in London on the night before we take off again."

"I hadn't heard.."

"It should be great fun. You'll meet a lot of important people there."

Will nodded. He had never been to a banquet. He wondered what it would be like. Just then something else came to Will's attention...no one else had seen his arm like this. What would they say..? Would they stare? Will started feeling uneasy. He'd never thought about that before. Oh yes, this should be _great_ fun.

Will kept quiet as they ate dessert. Captain Aubrey was talking to George about the banquet.

"Mr. Blakeney? Did you hear me?"

Will looked up at Stephen Maturin.

"Sorry, sir?"

"I asked if you were liking that book I gave you."

"O-oh. I...haven't had much time to look at it.."

"I see." said Maturin.

"I plan to look over it tonight." Will assured him.

"Ah," he smiled, "Tell me what you think when you have."

"I will, sir."

Will took another drink and looked around the table. Everyone was finished. They shook the captain's hand and left.

Will walked back to the forecastle with George, talking about the banquet.

"What do you think it will be like?" asked George, "Think it'll be fancy?"

"Probably. There'll be lots of people there too."

"Can't wait!"

"Yeah.."

When they arrived, Will took off his coat, shoes, and shirts and layed down. He was very tired. He looked at his coat and reached into the pocket for Maturin's book. He looked at it and put it down, feeling much too tired to read, or concentrate for that matter. He layed his head down and shut his eyes. He kept thinking about the banquet. After saying good night to George and Peter, he drifted off to sleep...


	2. Good to be Home

The next morning it was spring. It was breezy and cool outside. The ship moved faster, as the sails were up. It was about time Will got up. He felt his hammock swinging back and forth quickly.

"Will! Wake up! Come and see!"

Will sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Wassumatter?" He looked up to see Peter Calamy.

"Just get dressed and out on deck."

Peter ran back up the ladder. Will shook his head, trying to wake up. He got up and put his shirt on. He slipped on his shoes and climbed up the ladder. A burst of cool air surrounded him. He looked around and George's red hair caught his eye. There was a crowd of men gathered around the port of the ship. Will then saw why. He looked up and saw a small flock of sea gulls flying around the ship. Will ran over and grabbed a telescope to get a closer look. He looked up and smiled.

"Do you know what this means, Will!" asked George excitedly.

"Yes! We're almost there!"

George was practially skipping. Stephen Maturin was staring up at the gulls and occasionally writing down in his notes. Everyone began talking all at once. Will walked to the bow of the ship; his mind was racing. Family, friends, his life.

After hours of leisure it Will stood at the same spot, gazing down at the water. He looked up to the clouds, then to the horizon. Will squinted and leaned forward over the edge. He gasped. "SIR! SIR WE'VE REACHED LAND! I CAN SEE IT!"

The captain hurried up to the bow grabbing a telescope, and was followed by the majority of the men. Soon they saw lights. Then men cheered, "Huzzah! Huzzah!"

Captain Aubrey patted Will's back, "Well done, Mr. Blakeney."

"Thank you, sir." and he left.

George skidded to a stop in front of Will, "Let's go get our things together!"

They stuffed all their belongings into a bag were back up on deck. By now, they were almost to the dock... People there were pointing at the ship. Will saw families standing there, waiting excitedly. They were there...

Will looked down at the people. He saw a woman and a little girl, who was jumping up and down yelling for her father.

Men began piling off the ship. Will slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped off the ship with George and Peter. He smiled and looked at George, "Solid ground." George smiled.

They looked around, seeing nothing but hugs and kisses. Will saw Barret Bonden run off the ship and pick up the little girl he had seen and swing her around. He also saw a woman with bright red hair holding a baby.

George blinked-and ran over to her, "Mum!" He hugged her tightly and suddenly stopped and looked at the baby. The woman laughed, "You've got a sister now George!" George looked amazed. His mother put the baby in his arms.

"This is Laura." She smiled at her two children.

George was in a sort of shock. He touched Laura's little hand and kissed his mother on the cheek. He looked up at Will, not saying a word. The look in his eyes did all the talking.

Will smiled at him. He left George and his family to talk. A little away, Peter was rejoining with his own family. Will saw his own mother standing among the crowd. She had light brown hair and was very pretty.

"MUM!" Will ran into his mother's arms.

"_Will,_" his mother said breathlessly. They hugged tightly. Will smiled at her.

"Will, you've grown so much!" It was good to hear her voice again.

Ms. Blakeney looked at her son and smiled. "I'm so proud of you, Will."

"I just can't believe..." her smile faded and was replaced with a look of horror. She knelt down, "Good Lord!"

She had noticed Will's arm. Will closed his eyes, not wanting to know the reaction he knew she would have.

"What _happened_?" she asked hoarsely. Her eyes looked worried. Tears were flooding her eyes.

"It's nothing...I broke my arm...they had to..."

Ms. Blakeney simply shook her head in disbelievment.

"It's alright...I've gotten used to it," he assured her.

"You're alright..?" she asked.

"Of course I am. C'mon...let's go home.." Will looked back at the captain. He nodded his head to Will and his mother. They waved and started walking down the road. Will could feel his mother's eyes on him. He knew she was looking at his arm. He sighed as he passed familiar buildings and landmarks. He couldn't help but smile to himself when he passed the lamp post that George had stuck his tongue to one winter. His mother looked at him smiling, "What is it?"

"Nothing," he replied, "Just good to be home."

Authors Note - Howdy! I know this ones shorter than the last...sorry. I hope I'm not boring you all. I'm _trying_. And I'm new to so I don't know my way around this thing...I'm having problems even adding new chapters...lol...And I don't know if theres a special way to add authors note or if you just tack it on to the end...So whatever! I'm SO open to suggestions. The next chapters the banquet...I believe...wich means the introduction of some gals...and for those of you wondering, yes, George is a Midshipman.


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